The Fantastic Journey
Encyclopedia
The Fantastic Journey is an American
science fiction
television series that was originally aired on NBC
from February 3 through June 17, 1977.
for a scientific expedition. After an encounter in the area of the Bermuda Triangle
with an unnatural green cloud the group find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious uncharted island from which they are unable to escape.
They encounter Varian (Jared Martin
), initially disguised as an Arawak Indian, who is later revealed to be from the year 2230; a 23rd-century pacifist, musician and healer. Varian explains to the travelers that, like many before them including himself, they have been caught in a space/time continuum where people from the past, present, future and from other worlds are trapped, co-existing on the island in a series of timezones. The only way home can be found in a place called "Evoland" which lies "far to the rising sun" (it was indicated in interviews of the time that Evoland was also the name of the island itself). The only way to travel between timezones is via invisible gateways which instantaneously transport individuals or groups from one zone to another. In one episode "Beyond The Mountain" the group also encounters a second cloud which has much the same effect, but which also splits the group up.
After the initial pilot story, a steady group of travelers forms around Varian as de facto leader, and the series then follows this group as they travel across the many timezones of the island to find Evoland. On their way, they encounter people from different planets and times who are also trapped on the island and who have adapted to their plight in different ways. The pilot initially suggested the historical past would be explored; however, the producers of the show rapidly adopted a consistently futuristic tone during the series following pressure from the network. They also dropped three characters after the pilot as they wanted a more exotic group of travellers, hence the arrival of Liana and Willoway. Liana disappears from the last 2 episodes when Katie Saylor fell ill.
Although airing in a time when the nation's interest in the Bermuda Triangle
, UFOs and fantasy was at a height, the show failed to last beyond the ten episodes, having been scheduled as a mid season replacement (following the failure of another fantasy series, The Gemini Man) against The Waltons
and Welcome Back, Kotter
, both big rated family shows. There were several cast changes, with many main characters from the pilot being written out by the first episode of the series proper. By its tenth episode, its ratings had dropped and it was cancelled. The script for an unproduced eleventh episode entitled "Romulus" circulates on the Internet. The show continues however to have a small cult
following, but has never been released commercially on any home video format. Within a few months of its abrupt ending several of the production team would be producing the thematically similar Logan's Run
for the Fall 1977 season.
): "A man from the 23rd century possessing awesome powers". Varian generally uses a kind of crystalline 'tuning fork' device named the Sonic Energizer through which he focuses his thoughts into what is described as a sonic manipulation of matter. The device, one of the most intriguing aspects of the series, is said to be completely useless in anyone else's hands, and seems capable of a huge variety of tasks from opening doors to disrupting electrical systems to large scale acts of destruction, as well as its apparently intended function as a diagnostic and healing device. Following the departure of Professor Paul Jordan at the end of the pilot film, Varian takes over as de facto leader to the travellers and adopts a parental role over Paul's teenage son, Scott (most notable in episodes such as "An Act of Love" and "Turnabout").
Scott Jordan (Ike Eisenmann
): "The 13-year-old son of a famous scientist". Scott has an excellent knowledge of Earth history and events, but is still young and has a lot to learn.
Dr. Fred Walters (Carl Franklin
): "A young doctor just out of medical school"
Lianna (Katie Saylor
): "Daughter of an Atlantean
father and an extraterrestrial mother" - Liana possessed greater than human physical strength (due to her being born on a higher gravity planet
than Earth
) and telepathic/psionic skills presumably due to her mixed heritage. Saylor left the show after the episode "Turnabout" due to illness. In the next episode "Riddles" the reason for her not being present with the group was given that she opted to stay a few days at Coriel to help the inhabitants work out their new government and would catch up with the group later.
Dr. Jonathan Willaway (Roddy McDowall
): "Rebel scientist from the 1960s", who has a mastery of computers, robotics and scientific knowledge which is quite useful to the group. He is something of a black sheep
, reminiscent of Dr Smith in Lost in Space
. However over the course of the episodes, Willaway becomes more integrated into the group.
Sil-El (The Felix Team): Lianna's companion and pet (a cat she can communicate with telepathically), which sometimes scouts for Lianna (being an extra set of eyes and ears).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series that was originally aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from February 3 through June 17, 1977.
Premise
The series concerns a family and their associates who charter a boat out into the CaribbeanCaribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
for a scientific expedition. After an encounter in the area of the Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....
with an unnatural green cloud the group find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious uncharted island from which they are unable to escape.
They encounter Varian (Jared Martin
Jared Martin
Jared Martin is an American film and television actor.-Acting career:Born in Queens, New York to Charles E. Martin a cover artist for The New Yorker, and his wife, Florence, Jared Martin began acting at the age of ten, when his parents gave him the choice of either learning to play the piano, or...
), initially disguised as an Arawak Indian, who is later revealed to be from the year 2230; a 23rd-century pacifist, musician and healer. Varian explains to the travelers that, like many before them including himself, they have been caught in a space/time continuum where people from the past, present, future and from other worlds are trapped, co-existing on the island in a series of timezones. The only way home can be found in a place called "Evoland" which lies "far to the rising sun" (it was indicated in interviews of the time that Evoland was also the name of the island itself). The only way to travel between timezones is via invisible gateways which instantaneously transport individuals or groups from one zone to another. In one episode "Beyond The Mountain" the group also encounters a second cloud which has much the same effect, but which also splits the group up.
After the initial pilot story, a steady group of travelers forms around Varian as de facto leader, and the series then follows this group as they travel across the many timezones of the island to find Evoland. On their way, they encounter people from different planets and times who are also trapped on the island and who have adapted to their plight in different ways. The pilot initially suggested the historical past would be explored; however, the producers of the show rapidly adopted a consistently futuristic tone during the series following pressure from the network. They also dropped three characters after the pilot as they wanted a more exotic group of travellers, hence the arrival of Liana and Willoway. Liana disappears from the last 2 episodes when Katie Saylor fell ill.
Although airing in a time when the nation's interest in the Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....
, UFOs and fantasy was at a height, the show failed to last beyond the ten episodes, having been scheduled as a mid season replacement (following the failure of another fantasy series, The Gemini Man) against The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
and Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:...
, both big rated family shows. There were several cast changes, with many main characters from the pilot being written out by the first episode of the series proper. By its tenth episode, its ratings had dropped and it was cancelled. The script for an unproduced eleventh episode entitled "Romulus" circulates on the Internet. The show continues however to have a small cult
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
following, but has never been released commercially on any home video format. Within a few months of its abrupt ending several of the production team would be producing the thematically similar Logan's Run
Logan's Run (TV series)
Logan's Run is a 1977–1978 American CBS-TV series and a spin-off from the 1976 film of the same name.- Cast :*Gregory Harrison as Logan 5*Heather Menzies as Jessica 6*Donald Moffat as Rem*Randy Powell as Francis- Episode list :...
for the Fall 1977 season.
Cast
Varian (Jared MartinJared Martin
Jared Martin is an American film and television actor.-Acting career:Born in Queens, New York to Charles E. Martin a cover artist for The New Yorker, and his wife, Florence, Jared Martin began acting at the age of ten, when his parents gave him the choice of either learning to play the piano, or...
): "A man from the 23rd century possessing awesome powers". Varian generally uses a kind of crystalline 'tuning fork' device named the Sonic Energizer through which he focuses his thoughts into what is described as a sonic manipulation of matter. The device, one of the most intriguing aspects of the series, is said to be completely useless in anyone else's hands, and seems capable of a huge variety of tasks from opening doors to disrupting electrical systems to large scale acts of destruction, as well as its apparently intended function as a diagnostic and healing device. Following the departure of Professor Paul Jordan at the end of the pilot film, Varian takes over as de facto leader to the travellers and adopts a parental role over Paul's teenage son, Scott (most notable in episodes such as "An Act of Love" and "Turnabout").
Scott Jordan (Ike Eisenmann
Ike Eisenmann
Ike Eisenmann is an American actor, voice actor, producer, and sound-effects specialist who has been active in the entertainment industry since he was a preteen.-Career:...
): "The 13-year-old son of a famous scientist". Scott has an excellent knowledge of Earth history and events, but is still young and has a lot to learn.
Dr. Fred Walters (Carl Franklin
Carl Franklin
Carl Franklin is an American actor, screenwriter and film and television director. Franklin is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley and continued his education at the AFI Conservatory, where he graduated with an M.F.A. degree in directing in 1986...
): "A young doctor just out of medical school"
Lianna (Katie Saylor
Katie Saylor
Katie Saylor was an American actress. She has was most famously in the NBC television show The Fantastic Journey where she starred as Lianna, "daughter of an Atlantean father and an extraterrestrial mother". She had a leading role in the 1977 cult classic film Supervan. She is thought to have died...
): "Daughter of an Atlantean
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
father and an extraterrestrial mother" - Liana possessed greater than human physical strength (due to her being born on a higher gravity planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
than Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
) and telepathic/psionic skills presumably due to her mixed heritage. Saylor left the show after the episode "Turnabout" due to illness. In the next episode "Riddles" the reason for her not being present with the group was given that she opted to stay a few days at Coriel to help the inhabitants work out their new government and would catch up with the group later.
Dr. Jonathan Willaway (Roddy McDowall
Roddy McDowall
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...
): "Rebel scientist from the 1960s", who has a mastery of computers, robotics and scientific knowledge which is quite useful to the group. He is something of a black sheep
Black sheep
In the English language, black sheep is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family. The term has typically been given negative implications, implying waywardness...
, reminiscent of Dr Smith in Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
. However over the course of the episodes, Willaway becomes more integrated into the group.
Sil-El (The Felix Team): Lianna's companion and pet (a cat she can communicate with telepathically), which sometimes scouts for Lianna (being an extra set of eyes and ears).
Episode list
| Episode # | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Vortex" | February 3, 1977 |
| A party of scientists disappears into the Bermuda Triangle and becomes trapped on an island where past, present and future co-exist. After meeting 23rd century healer Varian and encountering 16th century privateers, the survivors begin their quest to return to their own time. All the while, they are being observed by a mysterious man from a futuristic city in the desert. | ||
| 2 | "Atlantium" | February 10, 1977 |
| With many of the original party returned to their own time, Varian, Scott and Fred find themselves caught up in the machinations of a megalomaniacal "brain in a box" called The Source, which has enslaved the inhabitants of the city of Atlantium (actually the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles Los Ángeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... ), built by the survivors of the original Atlantis and intends to use Scott's life force to regenerate itself. The trio are aided by dissident Atlantean, Liana, who reveals that she is half alien. |
||
| 3 | "Beyond the Mountain" | February 17, 1977 |
| The travelers are separated by a red cloud which leaves Liana as the 'guest' of Jonathan Willaway, who is the master of a community of robots, and the others trapped in a dark swamp surrounded by green skinned humanoids. However, Willaway's intentions are less than honourable and he has no intention of letting Liana leave, while Fred's medical skills prove invaluable in discovering the truth. | ||
| 4 | "Children of the Gods" | February 24, 1977 |
| The travelers arrive in a new timezone and meet a young boy who has escaped from a community run solely by children. They are led by bullying teenager, Alpha. | ||
| 5 | "A Dream of Conquest" | February 24, 1977 |
| An alien dictator is planning to invade other timezones and conquer the island. Willoway pretends to agree with him so that he can learn Tarant's secrets, especially as the true leader of this alien community is being slowly poisoned by the would be dictator. Liana takes pity on an abused alien creature called a Nefring. Guest starring John Saxon John Saxon (actor) John Saxon is an American actor who has worked on over 200 projects during the span of sixty years. Saxon is most known for his work in horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Black Christmas, both of which feature Saxon as a policeman in search of the killer... . |
||
| 6 | "An Act of Love" | March 24, 1977 |
| Varian, under the influence of a love drug, meets a woman named Gwenith from a religious community in a geologically unstable timezone. His judgment impaired, Varian decides to leave the travellers to stay and marry her. He soon discovers that the community fanatically worships a volcano god called Vatticus, who demands human sacrifices. | ||
| 7 | "Funhouse" | March 31, 1977 |
| Arriving at a strange 20th century funfair, the travelers become part of a game played by an ancient Greek Greeks The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world.... sorcerer Magician (fantasy) A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources... named Apollonius Apollonius Apollonius may be:Historical people:* Apollonius Cronus , philosopher of the Megarian school* Apollonius of Rhodes , librarian and poet... , who also possesses Willaway. |
||
| 8 | "Turnabout" | April 7, 1977 |
| The travelers encounter a city where the women are subservient to brutish male authority. The women mutiny and imprison the male travelers in a strange black void, and Liana appears to join their cause. Guest appearance by Joan Collins Joan Collins Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress... . |
||
| 9 | "Riddles" | April 21, 1977 |
| Guided to an old house by a mounted messenger, the travelers – minus Liana – quest for an object that will assist their search for Evoland, and a strange couple conjures illusions drawn from their deepest fears. | ||
| 10 | "The Innocent Prey" | June 6, 1977 |
| A prison craft from Earth's future crash lands in the timezone where the travelers are resting, releasing dangerous killers into a community which does not comprehend violence. With a killer on the loose, Varian and the others must deal with him and protect the pacifists. Cheryl Ladd Cheryl Ladd Cheryl Ladd is an American actress, singer and author. Ladd is best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the television series Charlie's Angels, hired amid a swirl of publicity prior to its second season in 1977 to replace the departing Farrah Fawcett-Majors... guest starred only a few months before she joined the cast of Charlie's Angels Charlie's Angels Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men... . |
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